Of course she is. She had a great season. She has made a lot of improvements on her jumps. But in order to have a chance to be anywhere near Mao, Joannie and Yu Na she still has some work to do. I'm sure she knows where her weakness lies. She said she reads the protocals after all her competitions.

She has got to move faster. Pick better music to motivate you to move along.
She has to make sure all her spins are level 4. There is no reason she should be getting less than 4 with her spinning abilities.
She still needs to fix her technique on Lutz & Flip. She also needs more transitions. She has a lot of work to do over the summer, but I am sure this medal will give her a lot of motivation.

Of course she is. She had a great season. She has made a lot of improvements on her jumps. But in order to have a chance to be anywhere near Mao, Joannie and Yu Na she still has some work to do. I'm sure she knows where her weakness lies. She said she reads the protocals after all her competitions.

She has got to move faster. Pick better music to motivate you to move along.
She has to make sure all her spins are level 4. There is no reason she should be getting less than 4 with her spinning abilities.
She still needs to fix her technique on Lutz & Flip. She also needs more transitions. She has a lot of work to do over the summer, but I am sure this medal will give her a lot of motivation.

You are right that she has to pick music that gets her moving. Ave Maria is beautiful, but ... it's more suited for an exhibition rather than for a LP.

As far as spoilers go...as soon as ESPN left, I noticed that the usual spoiler notice given each season went right out the window

And to Zhang- I'll call her a hopeful for now. We have no contenders in any country until the Olympic season actually begins. The good ones now are just hopefuls.

But by saying that, barring injury or setback, she'll definitely be in the mix. Nationally, that is. I don't think any of the Americans can compete with the Asians right now- the latter are simply too good and is destined to dominate the 2010 cycle like I said earlier. At least if Kim Yu Na ends up winning that, that might be her departure point (I think?)

Anyway, back to Caroline. Remember, to make the Olympic team she just needs to measure up to Flatt, Wagner, Nagasu, and the US gang. I think among them she holds up pretty well. This year, it would have happened had Czisny not pulled that stunner in the SP. And next year, she'll have a lot of competition- Zhang seems to beat Flatt internationally but vice versa at Nationals, so that leaves Nagasu, Wagner, Czisny (have to put her in, she's the champion) - am I forgetting anyone else? don't think so...Definitely, Nagasu or Wagner could beat Zhang if they are at their best. So, Zhang can do it but it's not going to be easy.

I think Caroline (and also Rachael) has the potential to sneak in for the bronze if a lot of the ladies bomb, but she'll probably only reach real contender status at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

Ha, well said. Doesn't matter who we send, no US lady at this point would be anything more than an underdog for bronze. That even includes Sasha Cohen if she comes back - though in her case it would be more an issue of being gone so long than an issue of scoring ability. And yes, even bronze would likely require a few major screw-ups by Japanese and European skaters.

Oh, as for the 6.0 slander -- Shizuka A. would have still easily won OGM under 6.0, so I don't get the point of that argument. Tara L. and Sarah H. had amazing amounts of triples and skated clean programs. I guess some people must be terminally obsessed with UR calls? That's a sad mentality, and even after many years of CoP it's still one the audience doesn't share. Michelle and Irina and others ALWAYS scored more points because of the "quality" of their skating. Sometimes that wasn't enough.

I don't know. Zhang and Flatt are very consistant. If their bodies stay the same, they will probably skate pretty clean since they are not the favorites so there isn't a big pressure on them. But I don't know if they get high enough PCS to medal. Zhang is still very slow and awkward when jumping. Her technique on her 2axel is just really weird.

I think they are like Kim Meissner(I put kim instead of kimmie because she is like 20yo now?) They have a better chance at 2010 worlds if some of Yuna, Mao, Miki and Rochette decide to skipp that event.

I think they are like Kim Meissner(I put kim instead of kimmie because she is like 20yo now?) They have a better chance at 2010 worlds if some of Yuna, Mao, Miki and Rochette decide to skipp that event.

Well, she still goes by Kimmie on her Twitter (and her site) so that's what I'll continue to call her. I don't think she'll be 20 until the fall (?).

As for Olympic medal hopes, I think it's out of the question for the Americans unless one of Asada, Kim or Ando pull out due to injury. And that would just be too bad if that happened, really.

2010 just won't happen for the US in ladies. We should look elsewhere...perhaps Lysacek now is the favorite for the men's Olympic Gold??

I guess it is a foregone conclusion that it will be Asada or Kim for gold. Just like the showdown in 2002 between Slutskaya and Kwan.

Well Mathman your correct we never know...BUT, with Kim and Asada's ability to go 75+ in the short program, and nobody else's ability to even go to 70 for a variety of very good reasons... Rochette's lack of a 3/3 in the short. Ando's underrotated 3/3 in the short. Kostner's consistency problems, and Rachael/Caroline's underrotated 3/3s in the short and the fact that even if they land their 3/3's Kim/Asada will get way higher GOES and PCS for just rightful reasons over those two.

Well we have a situation where Kim/Asada if clean in a short could easily get a big lead over everyone else. Added in that they do more difficult both in the long than the other girls, they'll have room for errors.

I think it would have been Kwan/Slutskaya in 2002 under COP anyways. And I'm not talking about Hughes rotation issues. Both Kwan/Slutskaya so outskated Hughes in the short program, that there would have been a big point margin for Hughes to overcome.

Of course Kim/Asada have to go clean. I think we could easily see 2002 men, where one doesn't go clean in the short program, and so a 2006 scenario where one skater has a Plushenko like lead.

I guess it is a foregone conclusion that it will be Asada or Kim for gold.

Huh? I'd have said that 6 months ago, but after Worlds and this season in general I would disagree. Asada has shown serious vulnerability. I'm not sure she can fully compete with Kim right now. Kim is a near lock for OGM, and Asada will have to battle it out with Rochette and the others for silver. That's kind of a bright spot for the US, it makes silver not totally out of the question for Rachael or Caroline. Just really, really unlikely.

Huh? I'd have said that 6 months ago, but after Worlds and this season in general I would disagree. Asada has shown serious vulnerability. I'm not sure she can fully compete with Kim right now. Kim is a near lock for OGM, and Asada will have to battle it out with Rochette and the others for silver. That's kind of a bright spot for the US, it makes silver not totally out of the question for Rachael or Caroline. Just really, really unlikely.

Well given Asada's scores, I don't think Kim is a lock. We have to see how it goes in the Olympics. We'll get a much better idea of where Mao is at a couple of months now.

But as for silver being out of the question for Rachael/Caroline. Rochette/Ando/Kostner/and Mao even with her mistakes are way better than those two. And I could be wrong but I just don't see Rachael/Caroline in a few months time developing the skating skills to beat those girls without meltdowns from them.

As for Nagasu having more potential, that depends on if Mirai can start rotating her freaking jumps.

Ah, but that's the definition of potential. Seeing the raw talent. Nagasu actually JUMPS when she jumps. One of Caroline's problems is that she doesn't really jump. She just skids off the ice and tries to twist her body as tightly as possible to get around. It doesn't look good. Tara Lipinski had small jumps but they had a snap. She didn't have to wind up her body into the rotations, they simply happened.

If the Olympics were in 2011 I would say yes definitely. Caroline needs time to work on her basics skills. She has the tech but needs the basics. Lets not forget that the other ladies have longevity experience so Caroline is at a disadvantage in that respect. IMO Mao and Kim were outstanding athletes at a young age (but this is not the norm) and over the last two years they have perfected their overall skating skills which is reflected in their huge scores.
Joannie took much longer to get there and Miki's skating skills have improved
dramatically over the last two years. 2014 will be Caroline, Rachel, et al
time to shine.

That said, I never count out anyone for an Olympic medal. I have been following skating for a very long time and the one thng I know is that no one has a lock on a medal.